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Newbee question on queen breeding...

My wife and I have a swarm that we caught in early April. The queen is excellent and we want to keep her genetics.
Please tell me what I should do to keep her bloodline. Keep in mind we are new and need direction.
Thanks.

Re: Newbee question on queen breeding...

Think about as the hive becomes full of bees, making some splits by moving some frames of new eggs and brood to a nuc ot two.
This will give you her blood line but remember it takes two to mate. Or half a dozen or more in the case of bees. The blood line of the males is harder to select unless you want to do artificial Insem. It will depend on the bees in your area as for where the drones come from.

You have the right idea! Grow your own queens. Later start thinking about drone hives to supply the other side of the sex.

Re: Newbee question on queen breeding...

Re: Newbee question on queen breeding...

You need more than a few weeks to assess the genetics of any queen. If you had caught that swarm in April of 2010, and are still pleased, then you may want to propagate the genes. The nice productive, gentle April swarm may turn into a fierce tiger by July that doesn't let you outside your door. Proceed slowing with feral bees. Of course if you have known history of this particular set of bees, then that's a different story. If they are truly of unknown origin, then integrate them into your apiary and evaluate them over time. Be prepared to take definitive actions if they don't turn out so good. If all turns out good, then perhaps by late summer you could raise a few queens from them.

Re: Newbee question on queen breeding...

Thanks for the advice Astro!
Don't know the origin but I know these bees are gentle. We'll see what happens.
When is a good time to raise queens? In other words, when is it too late in the year.
Thanks!

Re: Newbee question on queen breeding...

In terms of time, it would be best to consult someone local to your area, but in GA, I gotta believe that you can raise queens into late September without any problems, and perhaps later. The big things are: drone populations, and sufficient nutrition coming into the colony to build the cells. Don't try to get queens mated after drones have been kicked out, or in the middle of a dearth. Another question is what are you planning to do with these new queens. If you want to build up a new colony, then late is not good. However, if you're just planning to use them to requeen some under-performing queens then not a problem.